Conductor

As conductor, Kevin has directed the BBC Symphony and Australia Chamber Orchestra together with the Malaysian Philharmonic; the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTE Concert Orchestra, Opera North (UK) the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the West Aust ralian, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. He has worked with leading international artists, among them: jazz duo, Chick Corea and Gary Burton; bandonian player, Daniel Binelli; violinist, Leonidas Kavakos; pianist, Peter Donohoe; Kodo drummer, Eitetsu Hayashi and Chinese opera specialist, Shu-Cheen Yu.

Kevin studied percussion at the Birmingham School of Music, working with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and ultimately graduated from Royal Academy of Music, joining the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in the same year.

With the BSO Kevin established, 'Kokoro' - the contemporary music ensemble of the BSO, regularly toured the across Europe and the USA, and recorded hundreds of CDs. As a percussionist Kevin also worked with Ballet Rambert, Saddlers Wells Royal Ballet, The Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

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In 1995 Kevin received a UK Arts Council Award to study conducting with maestro, Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire and, from 1999 to 2014, Kevin was Associate Conductor with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra where he worked with world-class soloists in a variety of jazz, contemporary and mainstream inspired projects. With the MPO, Kevin premiered over 200 international works in Malaysia by living composers, formed both the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the MPO Forum for Malaysian Composers and GEMA – Generating Enrichment through Music Awareness (‘Echo’ in Malay) winning many awards and accolades in the process.

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Kevin balances an international conducting career with his position at Bentley Music Academy, Malaysia’s leading private music school. BMA offers music tuition from Musikgarten to diploma and across all genres of music to over 700 students.

Through Spectrum Culture Exchange, Kevin provides an opportunity to cultivate side-by-side exchanges in the UK, South East Asia and Australasia.

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www.kevin-field.net

www.spectrumculturexchange.com

www.bma.com.my

Conductor

Born in Hastings, England, Harry Spence Lyth received his education at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and at Milan Conservatorium. Courses with Franco Ferrara (Siena), Carl Melles (Mozarteum, Salzburg) and Leonard Bernstein (Tanglewood), followed.

His talent as conductor for symphony and opera led him to Switzerland as Studienleiter and Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater St. Gallen, to Brazil at the Teatro Municipal São Paulo ('Wozzeck' and 'The Flying Dutchman'), to Portugal with the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, to Hungary with the Budapest Chamber Opera (Ariadne auf Naxos) and to Berlin with the Berlin Chamber Opera ('Temistocles' and 'Maria de Buenos Aires'). In the European Capital of Culture 2000, Santiago de Compostela, he conducted the world première of Michael Nyman’s opera, 'Facing Goya', with the Michael Nyman Band at the invitation of the Composer. Most recently, he was Musical Director and Conductor for 4 Contemporary Music Theatre productions at the Berlin State Opera.

With considerable experience in symphonic conducting and in-depth knowledge of the repertoire, Lyth has been much in demand training young musicians. A Faculty Member of the Universität der Künste, Berlin, since 1978, he was, from 2002 to 2005, Conductor in Residence at Sydney Conservatorium,, responsible for Orchestral Training and the Graduate Conductors' course. In addition he directed several courses  for “Symphony Services Australia”  and subsequently conducted two Gala Concerts for the University of Auckland (NICAI).

Since returning to Europe, Harry Lyth has specialized in providing mentoring to emerging conductors, preparing them for competitions, entrance exams  and providing advice on careers, regularly advising Students at Cambridge University and most recently, Eton College. His notable students include Daniel Smith - first Prize in UNESCO’s International Conducting Competition and Second Prize in the prestigious Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, Simon Thew conductor of the Australian Ballet, Ciaran McCauley former conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and Ilya Ram Masters student at University of Arts Berlin. He expects to expand his online teaching platform later in 2020.

Harry Spence Lyth was elected Honorary Professor of Conducting by the Universität der Künste, Berlin in 2014.

Conductor

Eugene Pook is currently Founder, Music Director and Conductor of the Selangor Symphony Orchestra in Malaysia, Founder and Principal of the Eugene Pook Orchestra Academy, Founder of the Kinta Valley Wind Orchestra, and Founder and Executive Director of the Ipoh Music Festival. As a professional conductor, he has made guest appearances with professional orchestras such as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Pleven Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Henan Symphony Orchestra, Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, and many others.

Eugene’s selfless contribution to the music industry has benefited youths and communities of all races and backgrounds in beloved country Malaysia and around the world; in 2012, he was awarded the “10 Outstanding Young Malaysians Award” for his cultural contributions and achievements.

Besides serving as a music director and conductor, Eugene is also a professional clarinetist who has performed clarinet recitals at prestigious venues such as: the Carnegie Hall (New York City); the Malaysia Embassy (Washington DC, U.S.A.); and the European Union Embassy (Washington DC, U.S.A.). He has also performed and toured with the American Wind Symphony, Toronto Philharmonic, Kansas City Philharmonia (USA), Northland Symphony Orchestra (USA), and Eastman Wind Ensemble (USA).

Eugene Pook studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (Canada), University of Missouri - Kansas City (U.S.A), and Eastman School of Music (U.S.A), and is an active speaker for youths across Malaysia and aboard for promoting music education.